Archive for March, 2011

Yes, it’s time once again to dip back into the almost decade worth of journal comics I’ve drawn and show off some ancient, badly drawn (or, more badly drawn than now, I guess) comics about teaching! All of these are from my substitute teaching days, back in 2003-2004.

I loved this moment for a few reasons. Firstly… Nickelodeon had started airing Full House in the afternoons, when most of the middle school/elementary school kids were just getting home from school. This meant there was a whole generation of kids who were familiar with TGIF-level comedy. Incidentally, this strip can be read as either a compliment or an insult, depending on how you feel about Dave Coulier.

Even though this happened at a middle school, the same thing happens in high school. A lot of young people either see you as YOUNG (all capital letters) or OLD. If you’re OLD, you’re just old. Age is just a number, after all. For the record, I would have been like twenty three when I drew this comic.

Ok, one more:

I still remember that young lady, almost a decade after the fact. She had such a great, vibrant personality.

Right, you all know I love Batman… I feel like I might be of the last generation who was exposed to the 1960’s Batman TV series with any regularity. The show was syndicated when the ’89 Batman flick was such a huge hit in theaters, but now it’s bogged down in some kind of legal morass that’s preventing it from coming out on DVD. I’m waiting anxiously for it!

On the last day of proctoring the Ohio Graduation Test, I was SO bored that I started scribbling on a spare piece of blank paper. Some thoughts, in no particular order:

I’ve been reading comic books for about twenty years and I’ve always thought Ghost Rider was sort of stupid. I recently read comic writer Jason Aaron’s thirty-odd issue run on the character. I wouldn’t exactly say that Aaron’s take on the character has dissuaded me of the notion that a flaming skull riding a motorcycle isn’t a stupid idea, but the way that he glories in what’s goofy about the character with a serious face made for a fun read.

A lot of my students are wearing hats like that one at the bottom.

Our dog Roxanne, is pretty ug. My best friend Melissa loves her so I’m expecting a nasty phone call about that doodle any minute now.

by Chuck Marshall that featured Ellen, Elliot and I. Chuck’s an artist that Ellen works with pretty regularly at her job managing Gallery 42 Fine Arts here in Mason. Well, a few weeks ago, Chuck decided to paint a picture of Ellen by herself, and I thought I’d share the result with you because… well, because of the title of this post. My wife is gorgeous.

Coincidentally, just last week I commissioned my own piece of Ellen artwork!

Sarah Glidden the cartoonist, most recently of the DC/Vertigo book How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, has been offering to do watercolor portraits over in here Etsy shop. Ellen and I were big fans of Sarah’s last book, so I had to take the opportunity to get a painting. I was planning on waiting until our anniversary this summer to show Ellen, but of course I couldn’t wait.

At the end of today: Spring Break! An entire week off! We’ve had most of our days off between New Year’s and today taken away due to snow days, so an extended break is not only welcome… it’s necessary.

I haven’t decided if I’m going to post comics next week- I have a backlog of strips, but I usually don’t post during my off time. I believe the solution is a week of posting extra comics. I have a couple strips drawn about Ellen and the kids that I may use the next couple of days to post those.

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A couple of funny podcasts I’ve been enjoying lately:

Sex and Other Human Activities – Comedian Sara Benincasa and producer Marcus Parks discuss… well, they discuss sex and other human activities. The title does really does the job. I so enjoyed Episode #4, I drew some fan art for Sara and Marcus… which might be the first time I’ve done that since I drew Mondo Gecko for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. You can find that here, if you’re so inclined. The podcast is not exactly work safe, but from the confines of your iPod during a commute? Very funny stream-of-consciousness stuff.

How Did This Get Made? – I’ve only listened to one episode of How Did This Get Made? but if one is any indication, I love it. Comedians Paul Scheer, June Diane Rapheal and Jason Mantzoukas get together with a special guest and pick apart hugely stupid Hollywood flops. My only problem with the show is that I don’t get out to the movies very often these days… and when I do get the opportunity to see a flick in theaters I’m even less likely to have a chance to see something that I know is a dumb flick (Predators notwithstanding). I have subjected myself to Battlefield Earth however, and their frustrated confusion over the plot, the logic, and John Travolta’s weird accent is a delight.

The Great Gildersleeve Replay – I am sure this one does not count as a “podcast” as it’s simply a rebroadcasting of a classic radio show… but I am constantly surprised at how much I like The Great Gildersleeve. Essentially the first “single parent” sit-com ever made, Gildersleeve is a spin-off of radio classic Fibber McGee and Molly, in which the titular pompous windbag becomes the caregiver to his orphaned niece and nephew.

Gildersleeve has all the earmarks of radio comedy- broadly drawn characters, goofy misunderstandings, stock plots and so on… but something about the show just clicks for me. I just love Harold Peary’s voice as Gildy- he imbeds so much character into his voice with all of his hemming and moaning. It’s not the typical podcast, but check it out.

…and hey, most of The Great Gildersleeve was co-written by John Whedon… grandfather to Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Serenity mastermind Joss Whedon. If you’re looking for some kind of instant geek cred or a fun trivia fact… there it is!

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Longtime readers of Friday Odds & Ends know that I love documenting my son Elliot’s recent literary obsessions. One of the fun things about having kids is getting the opportunity to watch them figure out their interests. Elliot’s very into dancing, which is strange to me as I’m about as graceful as a boulder. He’s also genuinely fascinated by the macabre. I suspect most kids are into ghouls and ghosts, but Elliot takes it to a crazy level.

I, of course, decided to feed this fire by reading him In a Dark Dark Room and other Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz.

Whenever I mention this book to someone, they inevitably remember ONE story from this book. I am, of course, talking about The Green Ribbon. The Green Ribbon is about a girl named Jenny who always wears a green ribbon around her neck. The creepy twist to the story comes at the end, when it is revealed that the ribbon served more than a fashionable purpose for the woman.

It’s a fine spooky story, but reading it now, I have to wonder: Did Schwartz realize just how unsettling The Green Ribbon was, especially when laid against the rest of the stories in the book, which are mostly of the “BOO, gotcha!” variety. The Green Ribbon (all 50 words of it) is built around the mystery of the ribbon and Jenny’s relationship with a boy named Alfred. Alfred and Jenny fall in love and get married… but Jenny keeps the secret of the ribbon from Alfred for years… and only reveals it on her deathbed. There’s SO many creepy connotations! The idea that the person you may never really know the person that you love best in the world… the idea that that person can keep an essential part of themselves so hidden from you for a lifetime… those are grown-up fears, packed into this slim “I Can Read!” volume.

I am positive that Elliot’s not thinking about any of that. He’s just loving the head falling off.